There are many applications that involve managing a vast amount of data. One particular area involves tracing pharmaceuticals through a supply chain from manufacture through delivery to the end user. Given the prevalence of counterfeiting, and the health risks associated with counterfeit medications, tracing pharmaceuticals through a supply or distribution chain has now assumed added importance. In addition to such track and trace applications, data management may also be required for authentication of items containing security features, even if the items are not being tracked.
Track-and-trace functionality can be implemented by adding a security feature to the packaging of pharmaceuticals. However, this only allows the package to be traced and authenticated, not individual pharmaceuticals within the package.
Conventionally, many pharmaceuticals are shipped in bulk and then re-packaged at a pharmacy or other distribution center (e.g., factory, mail-order facility, and the like), either manually or by using a robotic dispenser. In this scenario, marking of an individual pharmaceutical (that is, a unit dose) for track-and-trace requires the use of a part, tag or other indicator that has been approved as an ingestible by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Obtaining such approval is difficult and expensive, requiring large-scale toxicology testing.
It would be advantageous to be able to use parts that have already been approved by the FDA to implement track-and-trace at the individual pharmaceutical (that is, unit dose) level.